Safety valve



Sept.l 7, .1943. E. scHoETTEl.

SAFETY VALVE Fiied April 2s, 1941 @g4 31 wcm/bof @www `Patented Sept. 7, 1.943

` ,t fy'aszaobfz c x primariamente1941;senegalese@ l .n ssclaxmsagci@ 951 r.This linvention mrelates to the construction of a'gasvalve and in" particular to a safety Valve that is used in lifting gas containers of aircraft l lighter-than-air, so-called .aerostats The object of this invention is toimprove the l functioning` of such a valve when super-pressure `has built up in the `gas container and to obtain` `a sufficient valveopening for relieving the vpressurefas quickly `as expedient.

Another object ofV this invention istoinsure In the drawing the valve II consists o-f a valve body including an annular frame I2 which also provides the Valve seat I3. is fastened to the outside of a gas bag or container I4 by bolts I5.v On the inside of the valve frame is fastened the fourf-armed spider I6 which carries the valve mechanism including that the valve will remain open long enough to l permit discharge of sufficient gas to bring the pressure within the .aerostat to the desired amount. Y Another object of this invention is to provide .a valve of this character having certain,

novel features; whereby the valve will be `more eflicientlyand readily controlled and will open and close with a minimum o f effort.

It was found that safety 1valves formerly installed inthe envelope of a gas container did not open the full amount for which they were `constructed and, therefore, had to be of larger size to permit passing of the required volume of gas without4 increase of the gas pressure within the container.

escaped radially and the pressure against the "p valve disk suddenly dropped andfthen was insufficient to fully open the valve against the 'spring tension, unless the pressure inside the container rose to an amount inadmissible.

According to this-invention that deficiency is removed by providing the valve body on its out- ",side lwith a defiector, preferably annulan' to change the direction of the gas flow, `originally radially, in the direction` in which the valve opens, or nearly so. With this arrangement the l valve is pushedfully open and stays open `until the super-pressure in the gas container has actually disappeared.` The reason for that is that the gas with altered direction of flow has the tendency to push the Valve outwardly. `This y tendency at the Sametime is enhanced by"y the Y suction created on the outside of the valve disk i by 'the outrushing gas, thus compensating fo l the decrease in pressure on the inside.,y l

The reason for Athat conditionfV was that as soon asthe valve opened the gas a fulcruml'l about which'the bell crank `I8 turns and which in turn is connected by a link I9 and an adjusting screw to the center of thervalve disk 2|. The rim of this disk is provided with a rubber gasket l22 which is pressed against `the f valve seat by means of a'spring 23, attached to;`

the short arm of the bell crank and fastened to an adjustable eyebolt 24 anchored by a bracket 25 to the spider I6, The spring is tensioned for a predetermined gas` pressure above which the valveautomatically opens. A deflector ring 26 is riveted to the outside of the valve frame to force the valved gas in a direction substantially that in which the valve opens, `whereby the valve remains open as long as a super-pressure prevails in the gas container. For centering the valve disk on its seat three radial cablesil 21 equally spaced and attached to the eyelets'28 at the center of the valve disk and to eyebolts 29 fastened tothe deflector, are provided.

it is to be understood that 1 do not wish to f be limited to the embodiment as illustrated andA described, but that` many modifications may be For a better understanding of this invention I `it shall now be described in detail byv reference f to the accompanying drawing in which; Fig. 1 is an elevational,cross-section of `the "valve, according to theinvention; y

Fig. 2 is a plan View thereof; M Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic side view of an airship showing the valve mounted thereon;

made without departing from thespirit of the invention and from the scope as dened by the appended claims.

Having thus fully describedmy invention, what I claim and desire to secure by letters `patent of the United States is: 1

l l. An automatic safety valve for aerostats comprising a valve body and a valve disk seated thereon, a dome-shaped spider frame" extending inwardly `of said lvalve body, an adjustable tension spring-operated valve lmechanism mounted withinthe space of said frame, a central valve stem adjustably connecting said valve disk with `said mechanism, `a defiector `surrounding said valve disktoforce the gas to be valved in substantially the same direction in which the valve opens, and radial'flexible connections extending between the `d eflector and` the valve disk and outside the valve to center the Valve disk on-its seat.

2f An automatic lsafety valve for aerostats" comprising ,a valve body and a valve disk seated thereon@ dome-shaped spider frame extending *i @mangime- The frame I2 l inwardly oi said valve body, a valve mechanism yyalve to `center the valve disk on its seat.

3. A safety vValve for aerostats comprising a valve body and a valve disk seated thereon, a dome-#shaped spider frame connected to andk extending inwardly of the valve body, a Valve-` actuating mechanism mounted within the space of the frame and including a bell crank pivotally secured to the frame, a spring adjustably secured to the frame by one end and to one end outside the valve to center the valve disk on its seat.

4. A safety valve for aerostats comprising a Valve body and ay Valve disk seated thereon, a

dome-shaped spider frame extending inwardlyof the valve body, a valve-actuating mechanism mounted Within the space of the frame and including a bell crank pivotally secured to the frame, a spring adjustably secured to the frame by one end and at its other end to one end of the bell crank, and a link pivotally secured at one end to the Valve disk and at its other end pivotally secured to the other end of the bell crank.

5. An automatic safety valve for aerostats comprising a Valve seat, a valve disk, valve-actuating means on the gas side of the seat, an outwardly flaring dei-lector ring o-n the air side of I the seat, and a plurality of circumferentiallyof the bell crank by the other, a `link pivotally secured at one end. to the Valve disk and atits vother end pivotally secured to the other end of the bell crank,V and radial exible connections spaced, radially-extending, flexible connections lbetween the deflector ring and the Valve disk. 

